Power of the People
In a market where nearly all manufacturing has been shipped overseas, flexible printed circuit manufacturer All Flex Inc. is seeing sales skyrocket.
Bryan Bartz, CEO, Mendell
On Fridays, Mendell’s CEO Bryan Bartz can be seen walking the shop floor, shaking hands with and handing out checks to each of his 73 employees. “I make it a point to stop at every person, shake their hand, and tell them thank you. That’s an important piece of the culture here. We’re all in this thing together, and together as a team we’ll be successful. Really, it’s all about the people,” he says.
Over the past 15 years, Mendell’s people-oriented company culture has helped it undergo a major transformation. Mendell began in 1965 as a job shop for aerospace defense components and later for commercial technologies. The company found that business with these markets tended to be cyclical and often volatile.
In 1999, when Bartz became CEO, the company went searching for an additional market to serve and found a good fit in the medical industry. Today, 95 percent of its sales are found in implantable medical devices and instrumentation in areas of orthopedic, orthopedic spine, endovascular and cardiovascular specialization.
Bartz attributes the company’s successful entry into this new market to a variety of cultural practices, with regular employee recognition and appreciation sitting at the top of the list. Mendell hires based primarily on a person’s values and willingness to learn, then trains them in house through a four-tier machining program.
“With our training program, we can build them up and turn them into the machinists that they want to become, and that we want them to become,” Bartz says.
Mendell’s dedication to its people is reflected in its building as well. Once hired, employees enjoy a light, bright atmosphere that runs contrary to common misperceptions about a machine shop environment. Natural sunlight filters through large windows in every area of the building. The shop floor is expansive and highly organized thanks to a series of processes and controls. At the employees’ request, a recently added collection of potted ficus trees dots the facility as well.
“Most of our guys are outdoorsy people. They like hunting and fishing, and our building speaks to that now… there is some connection with nature out there on the floor so that people can connect the outside with the inside,” Bartz says.
Despite concerns about increased taxation and rising health care costs, Mendell is on track to see 10 to 12 percent growth this year.
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